Marine time system



A. c. CARGILL 2,897,648

Aug. 4, 1959 MARINE TIME SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5, 1957 v 3m FIG; 2 z 1; V. 3 40b ug i 5 ALLAN c. CARGILL 31 1 g 4 O v 33 a 14 f l3 W GT1; A J1 M AGENET j g- 4, 1959 v A. c. CARGILL 2,897,648

MARINE TIME SYSTEM Filed March 5, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent TIME SYSTEM Allan C. Cargill, Vestal, N.Y assignor toInternational. Business Machines, Corporation, NewYork, N.Y;., a w l at f rk Application March 5, 1957-; Serial"No. 6f1 4,125 ,C a ms- 7 This inventionrelates to periodically supervised selfregulated time systems time) systems of this ftypeadapted,

for marine or shipboard use in particular'to the sece d f l k 99 d he ewi h The invention pertains to clock, systems wherein a master clockoperates to s endelectrical imp ul sesatregu 1dr intervals 'Q t me sl lf h ewe can an ciated' therewith in the system andeaeh secondary clock J I l a p etermined amount upon receiving eacli impulse? In addition to this, the master clock during certain predetermined intervals of time automatically regulates andeffectssynchronization:with the master clock of any of the secondary clockswhich may be fast or slow. A system "or thistype is disclosed, in US. Patent No. 1,687,491, issued October 16, 1928Qto J. W. Bryce.

In tim e systems for use on land, the apparatusis fixed in l'o'catio n or remains in a definite time belt and the only correction or periodical; change required is'the relatively si nall occasional corrections"arisingi from laclg' of: isochronism of the pendulum, and thetbi-yearly changesjto and from daylight saving time.

In the case of time systems locatedon ships traveling on the high seas, during th'e course 'of each eastward or westward-passage, it isn ecessary to make very material corrections of the clocks at rather frequent intervals, ar; ticularly in thec ase of fast vessels which require only a few hours to, traversea degree of longitude: With such a ship, the'clocks would have to be advanced when traveling d'ue east'and retafded'wh'en 'tr'avelirig due west by one or two half-hour intervalsper day' An object of the present invention is to provide an automatically supervised self-regulating time system With controlling meansenabling the system to corrected when made necessary by the progress of a ves sj el easterly or westerly through different time belts: or zones.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a supervised self regulatirig time system iii which the pen-j odic or frequent correctionsmade necessary on shipboard may be eifected more conveniently than lie'reto fore.

"Another object of the invention is to provide a supervised self-regulating marine time system with a mgr-acesvenient and accurate method and means or setting the clocks of; this system as awhole whenever a correction isrequired-which requires advancing orretardin'g ofthe 2. which has been contemplated, of applying thatprinciple.

In the drawings: v i

Fig. 1 is a rear. elevational view of the movement for a secondary clock. I

Fig. 2 is av partial vertical section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1. V i

Fig. 3 is a wiring diagram for the secondary clock movement.

Fig. 4 is a clock system wiring diagram.

Fig. 5 is a partial rear View of the clock movement showing the drive mechanism in an energized position for a normal forward drive operation.

Fig. 6 is a partial rear view of the clock movement showing. the reverse control mechanism in an energized position and the. drive mechanism in a de-energized position for a reverse drive operation.

Fig. 7 is a partial rear view ofthe clock'movement showing the reverse control mechanism in an energized position and. the drive mechanism in an energized position fora reverse drive operation.

In all of the above-described views like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts throughout.

The preferred form of the invention as shown and described in. this specification is directed to the/operation of a self-synchronizing clock system such as is shown and described in the Patent No. 1,687,491, issued October 16, 1928, to J. W. Bryce, and'the modifications thereto to adapt it for marine use. As shown inFig. 4,the system comprises a master clock 10 and one or more secondary clocks 1-1. This type of system requiresthe use of, four transmission lines, three of which are used to normally advance and self-regulate the secondary clocks, the fourth line is used to actuate the reverse drive controls. It has been the practice, heretofore, to equip mastar clocks with certain contacts that cooperate with the. clock. movements to send impulses of electrical current to the secondary clocks at regular periods of time for. the purpose of driving the secondary clocks andalsoto equip themaster clocks Withadditional contacts for sendingv rapid impulses of current during the synchronizing period toany of the secondary clocks which may happen: to be slow at the commencement of thesynchronizing period. Conveniently, the source of current may be A. C. derived from the shipslight and power generators. Sincethe master clock itself is of a well-known construction, it willnot be described in great detail herein.

More particularly, the inventionis directed to the improvements to the secondary clock movements which adapt them for use in a marine clock system.

Clock movement structure Referring to Figs. land 2, the, front plate 14-carries the. magnet system consisting of the two magnets 15 and 16 to which an oscillating armature 17 is coordinated. The yokes 18 and 19 of-the magnets 15 and 16, respectively, are fastenedtothe front plate 14 by screws 20. The rear pl atell and bridge member 22.are fastened to the yokes. 18Iand 19 by screws 23. Rear plate 21 is held in a spaced-relationship with respect to the yokes 18and 19 by ineans of suitable spacers (not shown). The shaft of oscillating armature 17 has its hearings in plate 14. and bridge member 22; and carries. on its rear end a disc 24. Eccentrically andpivotally mounted on the disc 24 are the forward and;reverse driving pawls 25 an d 26, respectively, limited in their. driving movement by the stop pieces 27 and 28, respectively, fastened torear plate 21. The forward drive. pawl25 coacting with the stop piece 27- limits theforward drive rotation of the disc 24, which is normally. biasedcounterclockwise by the spring 29.

Pivotally mounted .on the rear plate 21 is a bell crank 31.-that.is.biased.in a counterclockwise direction by spring 32 and which has rotatably mounted thereon a roller 33 adapted to detent the square-toothed ratchet wheel 30. The ratchet wheel 30 is provided with sixty teeth and is adapted to be advanced at a rate of one tooth per impulse in either a forward or reverse direction depending upon the state of the controls as will become apparent later in the description. The ratchet wheel 34) is fixed to the main arbor 34 which carries the minute hand. The hour hand is operated from this shaft by the usual well-known set of dial works or gear train.

Pivotally mounted on the main arbor 34 is a lever 35 to which is attached the studs 36 and 37. Lever 35 is normally biased in a clockwise direction by spring 38. An electromagnet 39 is attached to the rear plate 21 and has an armature 39a arranged to engage stud 37 for the purpose of moving lever 35 counterclockwise when electromagnet 39 is energized. The purpose of operation of lever 35 will become more apparent later in the description.

A single pole double throw switch 49 including an arm 40a and roller 46b is attached to the rear plate 41. The roller 49b is arranged to follow the surface of cam 41 that is attached to the main arbor 34. The switch 40, controlled by the chronological position of the clock movement, is used to transfer the connections of the magnets 15 and 16 with the A and B wires of the system during normal drive and self-regulating operations (Fig. 3). The C wire serves as the common return wire. The switch 4-0 controlled by the cam 41 is timed so that magnets 15 and 16 will be connected to the A wire when the secondary clock indicates from the 60 minute to the 59 minute positions and so that magnets 15 and 16 will be connected to the B wire, for one minute, from the 59th minute to the 60th minute position of the secondary clock.

Normal secondary operation With the electromagnet 39 in a de-energized position, when the magnets 15 and 16 are energized the armature 17 is turned clockwise bringing the axis of said armature into position substantially parallel to the lines of magnetic flux which flow between the poles of the magnet as shown in Fig. 5. In taking this position additional tension is introduced into the spring 2 and the forward drive pawl 25 is moved to the right to engage the next righthand successive tooth to the one previously engaged. When the magnets 15 and 16 are de-energized the tension of the spring 29 causes the armature 17 to be restored to its normal position (Fig. 1) and the forward drive pawl 25 is carried to the left rotating the ratchet wheel 30 counterclockwise one tooth position. The roller 33 engaging ratchet wheel 38 prevents retrograde movement of the wheel 30 when the forward drive pawl 25 is moved to the right on the next successive impulse. With lever 35 in its normal position stud 36, which controls the reverse pawl 26 prevents the same from engaging a tooth of ratchet wheel 3t in a driving manner during the oscillatory movement of armature 17.

Reverse secondary drive operation With the electromagnet 39 in an energized position lever 35 will be moved to its counterclockwise position so that stud 36 underlies the forward drive pawl 25 (Fig. 6). When the magnets 15 and 16 are energized the armature 17 is turned clockwise bringing it into its energized position as shown in Fig. 7. In moving to this position, armature 17 carries with it reverse drive pawl 26 thereby moving ratchet wheel 30 clockwise one tooth position in a clockwise direction. When the magnets 15 and 16 are de-energized the tension of spring 29 causes the armature 17 to be restored to its normal position (Fig. 6) and the reverse drive pawl 26 is moved to the left to be in position to engage the next successive left-hand tooth in ratchet wheel 30 as shown by Fig. 6. The roller 33 engages ratchet wheel 30 in a detenting fashion. With lever 35 in its energized position stud 36 prevents the forward drive pawl 25 from engaging a tooth of ratchet wheel 30 in a driving manner during the oscillatory movement of armature 17.

System operation The functioning of the system in the normal way as an hourly supervised self-regulating time system will now be described. Once each minute the master clock 10 (Fig. 4) transmits an impulse along the A wire. The minute impulses are conducted through the switch contacts 40c (Fig. 3) and energizes magnets 15 and 16 of the secondary unit completing the circuit through the C wire. The secondary clocks will be advanced one minute by each energization of magnets 15 and 16 during normal operation as described above. At the 59th minute position the secondary unit transfers its driving magnets from the A wire to the B wire via the switch contacts 40d.

There are three possible conditions which may exist with respect to any secondary clock in the system; it may be ahead of time, on time, or late. Thus, such secondary units that are fast will reach the 59th minute position in advance of the master clock and will be transferred to a dead B wire and will therefore be halted until a minute impulse is sent through the B wire at the 60th minute. A series of rapid impulses are set out over the A Wire between the 59th and 60th minutes so that all secondaries that are slow and remain connected with the A wire will be advanced until they are in synchronism with all secondaries at the 59th minute position at which time they transfer themselves from the A wire to the B wire in readiness to be started off in unison when the 60th minute impulse is transmitted under the B wire at the 60th minute.

The setting back of the system is accomplished through the actuation of a switch in a master clock 10 which energizes the R wire (Fig. 4) causing the electromagnets 39 in each of the secondary units to be energized. Then by manipulation of switches in the master clock a series of rapid impulses, equivalent to the number of minutes desired to set the system back, are sent out over both the A and B wires. The secondary clocks will be stepped one minute in the reverse direction for each impulse in accordance with the operation of the secondary clock as described above. Consequently, the clock system can rapidly be driven in the reverse direction equivalent to 15 minutes, 30 minutes or 60 minutes as desired.

It should be readily apparent that such a system in addition to shipboard use would have particular advantage to accommodate the bi-yearly changes to and from daylight saving time.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an electrically operated clock mechanism, the combination of an electromagnet, means for periodically energizing said electromagnet, a pivotally mounted armature adapted to be oscillated in response to the energization and de-energization of said electromagnet, time indicating means, a ratchet wheel connected to said time indicating means, a forward drive pawl and a reverse drive pawl pivotally and eccentrically mounted on said armature and adapted to coact with said ratchet wheel, a second electromagnet and means for selectably energizing said second electromagnet, a pivotally mounted lever associated with said second electromagnet, and adapted to be actuated in response to the energization and de-energization of said second electromagnet, and a stud mounted on said lever and positioned relative to said drive pawls whereby when said second electromagnet is in its normal tie-energized position the stud renders said reverse drive pawl ineffective as the ratchet wheel driving means during the oscillatory movement, of said, armature and when said second electromagnet is in its energized positionthe stud renders saidforward drive pawl inefiective as the ratchet wheel driving means during the oscillatory movement of said armature.

2.-Iii an electrically operatedclock mechanism, the combination of an electromagnet, means for periodically energizing said electromagnet, a pivotally mounted armature adapted to be oscillated in response to the energization and de-energization of said electromagnet, a time indicating shaft, a ratchet wheel connected to said time indicating shaft, a forward drive pawl and a reverse drive pawl pivotally and eccentrically mounted on said armature and adapted to coact with said ratchet wheel, a second electromagnet and means for selectably energizing said second electromagnet, a lever pivotally mounted on said time indicating shaft and adapted to be actuated in response to the energization and de-energization of said sec ond electromagnet, a stud mounted on said lever and positioned relative to said drive pawls whereby when said second electromagnet is in its normal de-energized position the stud renders said reverse drive pawl ineffective as the ratchet wheel driving means during the oscillatory movement of said armature and when said second electromagnet is in its energized position the stud renders said forward drive pawl ineifective as the ratchet wheel driving means during the oscillatory movement of said armature, and a detenting means adapted to coact with said ratchet wheel to prevent retrograde movement thereof.

3. In a secondary clock of the electrical impulse type, the combination of a two-core magnet unit, an oscillatable armature mounted on a shaft between the cores of said unit and so disposed as to be rotated into substantially parallel relationship with lines of magnetic flux when said magnetunit is energized, a disc rigidly fixed to the end of said shaft, a helical spring fixed to the periphery of said disc for retracting the armature when said magnet unit is de-energized, a time indicating shaft, a square-toothed ratchet wheel rigidly attached to said time indicating shaft, a pair of drive pawls pivotally mounted on said disc and adapted to coact with said ratchet wheel for driving the same incrementally in either a forward or reverse direction in response to the movement of said armature between its normal and energized positions, an electromagnet and means for selectably energizing the electromagnet, a pivotally mounted lever associated with said electromagnet and adapted to be actuated in response to the energization and de-energization of said electromagnet, and a stud mounted on said lever which normally projects into the path of movement of one of said drive pawls as the latter moves with said armature between its normal and energized positions thereby preventing the drive pawl from engaging with said ratchet wheel in driving relationship during the oscillatory movement of said armature and when said electromagnet is energized said stud projecting into the path of movement of the other of said drive pawls as the latter moves with said armature between its normal and energized positions thereby preventing drive pawl from engaging with said ratchet wheel in driving relationship during the oscillatory movement of said armature.

4. In a secondary clock of the electrical impulse type, the combination of a two-core magnet unit, an oscillatable armature mounted on a shaft between the cores of said unit and so disposed as to be rotated into substantially parallel relationship with lines of magnetic flux when said magnet unit energized, a disc rigidly fixed to the end of said shaft, a helical. spring fixed to the periphery of said disc for retracting the armature when said magnet unit is de-energized, a time indicating shaft, a square-toothed ratchet wheel rigidly attached to said 6 time indicating shaft, a pair of drive pawls pivotally mounted on said disc and adapted'tocoact with said ratchet wheel torotate the; latter incrementally in either a fo rward' or reverse direction in response tame move} ment ofsaid armature between its normal and energized positions, an electromagnet andmeans for "selectably energizing the electromagnet, a lever pivotally mounted on said time indicating shaft'and adapted to be actuated in response to the' energizationhnd de-energization'of said electromagnet, a stud mounted on said lever which normally projects into the path of movement of one of said drive pawls as the latter moves with the armature between its normal and energized positions thereby preventing the drive pawl from engaging with said ratchet wheel and driving same in a reverse direction during the oscillatory movement of said armature and when said electromagnet is energized said stud projecting into the path of movement of the other of said drive pawls as the latter moves with the armature between its normal and energized positions thereby preventing the drive pawl from engaging with said ratchet wheel and driving same in a forward direction during the oscillatory movement of said armature, and a detenting means adapted to coact with said ratchet wheel to prevent retrograde movement thereof.

5. In a secondary clock of the electrical impulse type, the combination of a two-core magnet unit, an oscillatable armature mounted on a shaft between the cores of said unit and so disposed as to be rotated into substantially parallel relationship with lines of magnetic flux when said magnet unit is energized, a disc rigidly fixed to the end of said shaft, a helical spring fixed to the periphery of said disc for retracting the armature when said magnet unit is de-energized, a time indicating shaft, a square-toothed ratchet wheel rigidly attached to said time indicating shaft, a forward drive pawl and a reverse drive pawl pivotally and eccentrically mounted on said disc and adapted to coact with said ratchet wheel to rotate the latter incrementally in response to the movement of said armature between its normal and energized positions, an electromagnet and means for selectably energizing the electromagnet, a lever pivotally mounted on said time indicating shaft and adapted to be actuated in response to the energization and de-energization of said electromagnet, and a stud mounted on said lever and positioned relative to said drive pawls whereby when said electromagnet is in its normal de-energized position the stud renders said reverse drive pawl ineffective as the ratchet wheel driving means during the oscillatory movement of said armature and when the electromagnet is in its energized position the stud renders said forward drive pawl ineffective as the ratchet wheel driving means during the oscillatory movement of said armature.

6. In a secondary clock of the electrical impulse type, the combination of a two-core magnet unit, an oscillatable armature mounted on a shaft between the cores of said unit and so disposed as to be rotated into substantially parallel relationship with lines of magnetic flux when said magnet unit is energized, a disc rigidly fixed to the end of said shaft, a helical spring fixed to the periphery of said disc for retracting the armature when said magnet unit is de-energized, a time indicating shaft, a square-toothed ratchet wheel rigidly attached to said time indicating shaft, a forward drive pawl and a reverse drive pawl pivotally and eccentrically mounted on said disc and adapted to coact with said ratchet wheel to rotate the latter incrementally in response to the movement of said armature between its normal and energized positions, an electromagnet and means for selectably energizing the electromagnet, a lever pivotally mounted on said time indicating shaft and adapted to be actuated in response to the energization and de-energization of said electromagnet, a stud mounted on said lever and positioned relative to said drive pawls whereby when said electromagnet is in its normal de-energized position the stud renders said reverse drive pawl ineffective as the ratchet Wheel driving means during the oscillatory movement of said armature and when the electromagnet is in its energized position the stud renders said forward drive pawl ineffective as the ratchet Wheel driving means during the oscillatory movement of said armature, and a detenting means adapted to coact with said ratchet wheel to prevent retrograde movement thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Poole Mar. 5, 1907 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Mar. 23, 1847 

